HomePlug(R)/Panasonic(R) Proposal for Powerline Communications Moves Towards a Ubiquitous IEEE Standard

Leading up to next week´s IEEE meeting, taking place March 5-6,
2008, in Fukuoka, Japan, the HomePlug(R) Powerline Alliance today
announced that its proposal, submitted together with Panasonic(R),
continues to move towards comprehending a broad range of industry
requirements which will allow the creation of an international
standard for In-Home and Access powerline communication technologies.
Following a vote in mid-October, the IEEE P1901 work group rejected
all other proposals, leaving the HomePlug/Panasonic proposal as the
only remaining proposal under consideration.

The advantages of powerline communications for digital home
services such as IPTV, multi-room DVR and broadband access are clear.
No other multimedia networking technology can meet the high levels of
coverage, performance and convenience demanded by digital services in
today´s networked home. As such, members of the HomePlug Alliance and
Panasonic are actively working with members of the IEEE P1901 work
group and outside industry stakeholders to ensure that the
specifications address the broadest spectrum of the requirements.

"The HomePlug Powerline Alliance and the IEEE share the common
goal of creating a single powerline standard," said Matthew Theall
from Intel Corporation, who serves as president of the HomePlug
Powerline Alliance. "The goal of the HomePlug Alliance is to focus on
working with others to create the absolute best solution for the
industry by creating a single standard that will benefit consumers
worldwide. We continue to make excellent progress, and we believe it
is in the best interest of those involved to incorporate the interests
and suggestions of all parties, large and small, as we move towards a
truly ubiquitous standard."

"Powerline communications addresses many varied needs and
applications, and as a result, there are many stakeholders in the
process," said Mikio Mizutani, executive vice president of Panasonic
Communications Co. Ltd. "Discussing these solutions with the
interested parties and addressing the technical requirements for each
potential application is a challenging task, but a task that we are
happy to take on in an effort to propose the best possible solution
for the industry."

The HomePlug Alliance, its member companies, and Panasonic fully
support the IEEE process and believe that the completion of an
industry-wide standard will be a significant step forward for the
powerline industry. This solution will enable all equipment vendors,
service providers, technology providers and consumers to come together
under one common roof. The final solution recommended to the IEEE
P1901 work group by HomePlug and Panasonic will be a more complete
solution than was originally anticipated, and takes into account the
requests of all interested parties and offers the efficiency of a
single MAC with the flexibility to support both the HomePlug AV and
HD-PLC PHYs.

HomePlug and Panasonic are strongly committed to delivering a
single, mature solution that will be endorsed by the IEEE 1901 work
group as the baseline standard. The important work of refining the
technical details of the HomePlug/Panasonic proposal continues to move
forward, but will not be complete by the time of the upcoming meeting
in Fukuoka on March 5 and 6. The HomePlug Alliance and Panasonic
expect to announce plans for completion of the joint proposal after
the conclusion of next week´s IEEE 1901 meetings.

The HomePlug Alliance, Panasonic and HomePlug member companies
will be holding a meeting for attendees to learn more about the
HomePlug/Panasonic submission, providing an open discussion prior to
the formal P1901 meeting. The meeting will take place on March 4 from
13:30 to 17:00 at the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka in the Savoy II room. There
is no fee to attend, but each attendee must register in advance.
Please visit the Events section of the HomePlug Web site -
www.homeplug.org - for more information.

For additional details on the IEEE P1901 standard, please visit
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/. More information on the HomePlug
Powerline Alliance can be found at http://www.homeplug.org.

About the HomePlug(R) Powerline Alliance:

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Inc. is an industry-led
initiative established to create specifications for home high-speed
powerline networking products and command & control among platforms
within the home, and broadband access services to the home. The
Alliance accelerates demand for HomePlug-enabled products and services
worldwide through the sponsorship of market and user education
programs. Membership in the Alliance has grown to include more than 75
industry-leading companies. HomePlug Sponsor companies include Cisco
(CSCO); Comcast (CMCSK); GE Security, Inc., an affiliate of General
Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); Intel Corporation (INTC); LG Electronics
(Korea Stock Exchange: 6657.KS); Motorola (MOT); RadioShack
Corporation (RSH); Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNGY.PK); Sharp
Laboratories of America; TCL Group Holding Co., Ltd (TCL Group); and
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN) (TI). Contributor members
include Arkados (OTCBB: AKDS); Conexant (CNXT); Corporate Systems
Engineering; Gigle Semiconductor; Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.;
Intellon Corporation (ITLN); SPiDCOM Technologies; and Yitran
Communications Ltd. Additional information about the Alliance,
including a complete listing of certified products, is available at
http://www.homeplug.org.

HomePlug is a registered trademark of the HomePlug Powerline
Alliance, Inc. Panasonic is a trademark of Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co., Ltd. All other trademarks, trade names and service
marks mentioned and/or used belong to their respective owners.